“As a working actor looking to take my work to another level, I couldn’t be happier with class at Andrew Wood. Since joining five months ago, I’ve booked a national commercial as well as one of my first TV jobs. He’s able to convey powerful insights in a clear and useful way, but also has an impressive ability to identify the individual actor’s needs.

I’ve taken a variety of classes in the past, and I sincerely feel this is the only approach I’ve learned in which the fundamentals feel universally applicable to any scene, regardless or the genre or medium. In other words, I never get that feeling of “this stuff only feels useful in certain scenarios.” Thus, the information will apply to an actor of any level. Andrew is patient and attentive towards understanding your thoughts during the scene, and very thorough in his explanations. He’s very friendly, yet in the work, I never get the vibe he’s pandering to the students. It’s very clear from the beginning that he is motivated, before anything else, by making you better. At the end of the day, you want your baseline ability to rise, and I really don’t see how that’s not a possibility in this class. Investing in Andrew’s class has been worthwhile for me.”

STEVE OLSON, actor, on Yelp

“I’ve studied acting for many years in both NY and LA and I’ve tried plenty of different teachers, but I have to say that Andrew is one of the very best I’ve encountered. His classes are the real deal, and I’ve had serious breakthroughs working with him. He includes very solid technique in 10 week cycles during which you focus on one scene from one play. This is great, because it mimics the work you would do if you really booked the role. The classes are small enough that you get plenty of personalized attention, and the scenes he picks are very meaty and great to work on. The 10-week cycles have been great for me because I can jump in whenever I want when it works for my schedule. This is a class for serious actors who are motivated to learn or advance their craft. There’s no b.s. here like you find in a lot of other LA acting classes. He interviews students before they sign up, and from what I’ve seen they’ve all been great scene partners. The classwork is concentrated, so there’s not a lot of room for flakiness. There’s a mix of newbies and working actors which strangely doesn’t seem to make as much difference as I imagined it might. Normally at this stage in my career I wind up in “advanced” classes, but I’ve found that I learn a good deal watching the less experienced actors work with the technique he offers. In a way it again mimics the real world, since you never know what kind of actor you’ll wind up with on a job. I find it helps to just focus on my own work really well. Overall I can’t recommend this class highly enough. I wish I had encountered him before I had to scrub through other more mediocre classes around town. One other thing to note is that cost-wise the class is a huge value for what you get. I’ve definitely found a home here.”

TRAVIS SHAKESPEARE, actor and Emmy-nominated producer

“When I read up on Andrew’s course, it sounded like it provided exactly what I wanted – intellectual challenge combined with instruction that clearly and progressively provided me with the tools to embody and improve a solid acting technique. Andrew’s web site is much like his instruction: thorough, no stone unturned, thoughtful, professional, incredibly intelligent, but also encouraging and willing to give you as much help as you’re looking for… At least twice during the course, you will go up in front of class, perform the scene and then work with Andrew for about an hour each time. This is where your preparation is vetted. At the beginning of the course, Andrew shares techniques that will let you know your character, make her human, make her needs visceral. This is not something you wing, but something you invest in, as in sculpting a statue. This part was the real eye-opener for me, both when I went onstage, but sometimes more when I watched my colleagues perform. The most significant factor to one’s performance was how informed they were of their character’s needs and how could one know that if they didn’t know their character’s past, present, and relationship with the other character in the scene? Within minutes of discussion with Andrew, students’ performances improved right before us. That was my proof that the preparation and technique worked…As important to me as intellectual challenge, and learnable, repeatable technique, is a safe, encouraging environment. Having taught before, I know the importance of correcting without judging. You will never hear Andrew say, “You were too quiet.” “You weren’t convincing.” Not only do statements like that make one more self-conscious, but they also don’t help. Andrew has an incredible ability to pinpoint exactly what needs working on without making you feel attacked or defensive. This was the first performance class I’ve had where I was excited about having my performance picked apart because I knew I was in good hands. I knew whatever Andrew said, it would be helpful, intelligent, and spot-on. Everyone’s performance improved because of his instruction. It’s rare to find this caliber of teaching in any field, in any institution. I plan on taking his class again as soon as I can.”

ADRIENNE BISCHOFF, actor